Our Diamond Engagement Rings – Finishing and Valuation

Quite often the question arises as to if our engagement rings and earrings come with a valuation, as these are particularly useful for insurance.

The answer is yes and no.

For interstate customers, we automatically give an independent valuation for insurance purposes at no extra cost before shipping to the client. This is merely done as a courtesy gesture, as often people living in remote areas are unable to get to a valuer. In one instance, a customer was unable to get a ring that we made valued locally and was met with hostile jewellers who were displeased about them buying online.

For clients in Auckland, New Zealand, GemLab performs valuations for our clients. Once again, this is included in the price.

For clients in Perth, we only give valuations if you ask for one. If you ask, we will gladly take it to a valuer at no extra cost.

What A Valuation Is Not.

A valuation is not a grading certificate. The valuer should use either the grading certificate or the specifications given by the vendor. The more information the better.

A valuation is not a jewellery certificate. If the piece of jewellery is not well made, it’s not well made! There is no such thing as independent certificates for jewellery manufacture!

A valuation is not a marketing tool. Valuations are either performed as the final step before delivery to the customer or after the customer has taken and purchased the ring.

What Does A Valuation Cost?

Nowadays, the average cost of a valuation is around $100. Some valuers will charge more, some less and some will charge based on the value of the piece of jewellery. It is not uncommon for valuers to charge a fixed amount for items valued at say $10,000 or less and then another amount for every thousand dollars over $10,000.

In addition to this, truly independent valuers – that is those making a living out of valuations and possibly grading diamonds and other gemstones, will not have revenue from selling jewellery and will most likely have better equipment. Therefore they will be more expensive.

That said, valuers usually give special trade prices to jewellers who use their services. This is why it is usually a lot cheaper to get an independent valuation through your jeweller, rather than do it yourself.

Finishing

A customer and a friend came in a couple of days ago to pickup their ring. Immediately they were touching the ring, getting their dirty finger prints on the beautifully polished ring.

This raised the issue of polishing, and why jewellers should take extra care when polishing. Even though the ring will most likely get scratched and dirty within hours of being worn, presentation always reigns supreme! There’s nothing worse than proposing with a scratched ring! Furthermore, little things such as the type of box makes a big difference. Even though our Crossfire diamonds and rings come with exclusive packaging, rings made with our international selection diamonds are presented in large timber boxes.

This entry was written by Nikhil Jogia and was posted on on Friday, February 22nd, 2008 at 11:42 am and is filed under Taking Care of Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.